Automatic washing machine



Dec. 17, 1957 H, D. FORSE 2,816,428

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AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINE Harry D. Forse, Anderson, Ind.

Application February 26, 1954, Serial No. 412,847

Claims. (Cl. 6817) The present invention relates to Washing machines and, more particularly, concerns automatic washing machines, especially for commercial laundries, which comprise an outer drum and an inner drum or basket rotatable in said outer drum alternately in one and the other direction.

Automatic washing machines, especially for commercial laundries are known which automatically control the supply of hot and cold water and the alternating rotative movement of the basket, and which also control the dumping of washing ingredients and the like. These known washing machines, however, have the drawback that the control mechanism, which consists pri marily of electronic equipment, is rather complicated and whenever it becomes defective requires an expert electrician to eliminate the disturbance. This fact frequently puts the washing machine out of commission for a day or longer, which time is lost and thus represents a financial loss to the laundry establishment.

it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an automatic washing machine which will overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.

it is another object of this invention to provide an automatic Washing machine, especially for commercial laundries, which has an outer drum, and an inner drum or basket alternately rotating in said outer drum in one and the other direction, and in which this change of direction is mechanically controlled.

it is still another object of this invention to provide a washing machine of the type set forth in the preceding paragraph in which also the control of the supply of hot and cold water is controlled mechanically.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an automatic washing machine which will make it possible in an extremely simple manner mechanically to vary the gallonage of water in precise proportion to an adjustment previously made for another gallonage of water.

A still further object of this invention consists in the provision of an automatic washing machine, especially for laundries, in which the dumping of the washing ingredients into the machine will be controlled mechanically.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a washing machine as set forth in the preceding paragraph, in which the washing ingredients, especially when in powder form, will be properly dissolved before reaching the inner drum or basket.

it is a further object of this invention to provide a mechanically controlled washing machine, especially for commercial laundries in which a part of the control means may selectively be manually actuated for facilitating and speeding up the set-ting of the machine for a new formula or cycle.

A still further object of this invention consists in the provision of an automatic washing machine having mechanical control means which are adapted automatically to control the various steps of a washing cycle and which may also selectively be varied or adjusted manually.

2,816,428 Patented Dec. 17, 1957 ICQ These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective front view of an automatic washing machine according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows the upper portion of Fig. 1 on a somewhat larger scale.

Fig. 3 shows on a scale somewhat larger than that of Fig. 2 a cross section through the control dial and the mechanism for proportionally varying the gallonage of water.

Fig. 4 is a top View of the washing machine as seen in the direction of the arrow A of Fig. 1 after the top lid has been removed, Fig. 4 being on a somewhat larger scale than that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section taken along the line VV of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section taken along the line VIVI of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a section taken along the line VII-VII of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a top view of the mixing container or bafiie box in which the washing ingredients and the like are being mixed.

Fig. 9 shows in perspective on a somewhat larger scale than Figs. 4and 6 a portion of the view seen in the direction of the arrow B of Fig. 4 and the arrow C of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is a back view of the washing machine illustrating the drive and indexing mechanism therefor.

Fig. 11 is a section taken along the line XIXI of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a view seen in the direction XII-XII of Fig. 10.

Fig. 13 i s a section taken along the line XIII-Xlll of Fig. 4.

Fig 14 is a section taken along the line XIV--XIV of Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is a section taken along the line XVXV of Fig. 13.

Fig. 1.6 illustrates the cup dumping arrangement in conformity with the present invention for dumping washing ingredients and the like into the mixing container or bafiie box of Fig. 8.

Fig. 17 shows a detail of a pipe in the tank illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6.

Fig. 18 illustrates a detail of a lever system forming a part of the washing machine according to the present invention.

Fig. 19 is an end view of a reversing switch arrangement with dash pot for use in connection with the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a section taken along the line XXXX of Fig. 19.

Fig. 21 shows the diagram for the motor circuit and the reversing switch when the latter occupies its one end position shown in Fig. 20.

Fig. 22 is a diagram similar to that of Fig. 21 illustrating the circuit when the switch of Fig. 20 occupies its other end position.

GENERAL ARRANGEMENT One of the primary features of the washing machine according to the present invention consists in that the washing machine is provided with a water storage and prernixing tank the water level of which is varied by mechanical means. To this end, the washing machine is provided with a main control shaft driven by a mechanical drive system which in its turn may be driven by an electric motor. Connected to the main control shaft is a disc carrying a plurality of adjustable cams which latter may be adjusted on said disc for actuating valves controlling the admission of hot and cold water at predetermined points of the cycle. Furthermore, the disc itself may be adjusted for causing the cams carried thereby to actuate the hot and cold water controlling valves to greater or lesser extent for admitting more or less hot and cold water into the mixing tank of the washing chine.

According to a further feature of the invention, the said disc, while being connected to the main control shaft so as to rotate therewith, is axially movable on said control shaft toward and away from said water flow control valves so that by a simple movement of the said disc all cams carried thereby are automatically moved toward or away from said valves and thereby will cause the latter to admit more or less water while the proportion of the hot and cold water will remain the same as it was with the previous adjustment.

According to another one of the outstanding features of the present invention, the washing machine, which is provided with a pre-mixing tank, has a plurality of cups arranged adjacent said pre-mixing tank, and these cups are in a purely mechanical manner by the main control shaft of the machine controlled so as to be dumped in a predetermined sequence which sequence may be varied in any desired manner.

The mechanical drive system includes a purely mechanical indexing system which with each revolution of a wheel will bring about a rotation of the control shaft by a predetermined angle. This mechanical indexing system has mechanical means associated therewith for actnating a reversing switch which latter controls a reversible motor.

STRUCTURAL ARRANGEMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail and Fig. 1 thereof in particular, the washing machine illustrated therein comprises a housing generally designated 1. which is composed primarily of the lower housing portion in covering up the outer drum (not shown in the drawing) and the rotatable basket 2 therein, and the upper housing portion lb which covers up the storage or premixing tank referred to later in detail. The central front portion of the housing portion la is provided in the usual manner with a door 3 for loading and unloading the basket 2. The door 3 is hinged at 4 and can be locked by means of the lever 5. Preferably the front side of the lower housing portion 1a is also provided with a pocket which has an opening at its bottom for communication with the interior of the basket 2. This pocket allows the operator to add additional washing ingredients to the Water The front portion of the housing portion lb is provided with a control dial generally designated 6 which comprises an indexing disc 6a having a plurality of concentrically arranged rows 7, 8, 9 of holes which preferably are all of the same diameter. The holes of the two inner rows are engaged by pins or bolts llti, ltla having a head ill. and a threaded portion 12 (see Fig. 13). Each of the bolts 10, llfia carries a cam 13 which in the specific example shown in the drawing is U-shaped and has a certain resiliency. Each cam 13 has one leg 13a arranged between the disc 6a and a metal piece 13', while the other leg 13b is an ranged for engagement with a roller 14, 14a. In view of its resiliency, cam 13 can be given a more or less slope merely by screwing the bolt a more or less inwardly. The roller 14 is carried by a lever generally designated 15. This lever comprises an arm 15' having rigidly con nected thereto an arm 15 which latter is tiltably supported by a pin or bolt 16. The pin or bolt 16 is journalled in a stud 17a connected in any convenient manner for instance by welding to the water storage tank 17. The arrangement is such that the lever 15 due to its own Weight continuously tends to tilt in counterclockwise direction with regard to Fig. 13. In order to prevent the .4 lever 15 from tilting beyond a predetermined maximum angle, the arm 15 has connected thereto in any convenient manner for instance by screws 18, a leaf spring 19 the lower end of which is in continuous engagement with the front wall of the water storage tank 17.

Pivotally connected to that end portion of arm 15 which is near the wall 20 of the water tank 17 is an arm 21. The upper end of arm 21 has rigidly connected thereto in any convenient manner for instance by welding a bent rod 22 the free end of which carries a float 23 for instance in the form of a ball similar to the floats used in connection with toilet flush boxes. This float 23 normally floats on the water in the water tank 17 as shown for instance in Fig. 13.

The arm 21 has a threaded bore 24 therethrough which is engaged by an adjustable threaded bolt 25. The belt 25 has a head 25' for engagement with the stem 26 of the valve 27 which is normally closed. In this closed position of the valve 27, a spring (not shown in the drawing) of the valve pushes the valve stem 26 into its outermost position. The lower end of valves 27 is connected to a pipe 28 which is arranged substantially vertically in the tank 17 and has its lower end connected through a horizontal pipe section 29 (Fig. 4) with a vertical pipe section 39 (Figs. 7 and 4) near the rear wall 31 of the tank 17. The upper end of pipe may be connected in any convenient manner with a cold water main hose. The upper end of the valve 27 is connected through an elbow 32 (Fig. 7) and an elbow 33 with a pipe 34 which extends into a discharge pipe 35 of an inner diameter which is somewhat larger than the outer diameter of the pipe 34. As will be seen from Fig. 7 and in particular from Fig. 17, the upper end of the discharge pipe 35 has notches 36 therein which extend below the lower end of the pipe 34 so that air can freely enter through the notches 36 into the pipe 35. The reason for this arrangement consists in that if due to some circumstances a vacuum should develop in the main, no water can be drawn from the water tank 17 back into the main. As will also be clearly seen from Figs. 7 and 17, the lower end of the pipe 35 is cut on a slant so that the water being discharged from the lower end of pipe 35 will perform a whirling action.

Similar to the pipe and valve system just described for connection with the cold water main, there is a valve and pipe system provided for connection with the hot water main. Inasmuch as the parts of the last mentioned valve 27a and pipe system are substantially the same as those described in connection with the valve and pipe system for the cold water main, the elements of the valve and pipe system for the hot water main have been designated with the same reference numerals as the elements for the cold water main but with the additional character a. Similarly the cam and lover mechanism including the float cooperating with the valve for the hot water main have their parts designated with the same reference numerals as those used in connection with the cam and lever mechanism for cooperation with the valve for the cold water main but with the additional reference charac- However, while the elbow 33 of the cold water line has connected thereto a pipe 3 leading into the discharge pipe 35 directly discharging into the tank 17, the elbow 33a of the hot water line has connected thereto a pipe 37 which leads into a mixing container or ba'lfie box 33 (see Fig. 7) which will be described in detail later. With regard to the earns 13, it may be added that in the specific embodiment shown in the drawings the cams for the cold water control valve 27 are supported by the bolts in row 8, whereas the cams for the hot water control "valve 27a are supported by the bolts in row 7 so that the roller 14 for valve 27 will be actuated only by the cams of row row 8 but not by the cams of row 7, and similarly, roller 14a for valve 27a will be actuated only by the cams 7 of row 7 but not of row 8. If desired, but not necessarily, the valves 27, 27a and rollers 14, 140. therefor may additionally be arranged at difierent levels with regard to each other.

Water miser Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the indexing disc 6a has connected thereto, for instance by welding, a sleeve 39 which is keyed or splined to the control shaft 40 so as to rotate therewith while being able to slide in axial direction on said shaft 40. The shaft 40 is journalled in a protective tube 41 which passes through the front and rear walls of the water tank 17 (Figs. 3 and 4). A spring 42 interposed between the front wall of the water tank 17 and the sleeve 39 continuously urges the disc 6a outwardly. The outward movement of the disc 6a is limited by the water miser 43 the central portion of which is designed as a nut 44 threadedly engaging a correspondingly threaded front end a of the shaft 40. The Water miser 43 has one arm 43a designed as a pointer which can be brought into registry with a number of indications 45, 46, 47 and 48 (Figs. 1, 2) which indicate in pounds different weights of laundry to be loaded into the basket. The water miser 43 also comprises a further arm 49 the end of which carries a spring-urged pin 50 adapted to engage either one of a number of registration holes 51 provided on a dial 52 connected in any convenient manner to the disc 6a to thereby positively hold the pointer 43a in its respective adjusted position. Each time the pointer 43a is to be adjusted, it is merely necessary to lift the pin 50 out of its respective registration hole against the thrust of the spring associated therewith but not shown in the drawing to turn the miser into a new desired position, and then to allow the pin 50 to register with the corresponding registration hole. It will be appreciated that by rotating the miser in one or the other direction, the disc 6a and thereby the sleeve 39 will either move toward the front wall 20 of the water tank or away therefrom because of the screw connection 40a. Movement of the disc 6a toward the wall 20 (see Fig. 17) will cause the cam 13 to push the lever 15 further inwardly thereby causing the head 25 of the bolt 25 to push the valve stem 26 further inwardly so that the valve 27 will open to a greater extent when the respective cam contacts and actuates the rollers 14, 14a. Correspondingly, the movement of the disc 6a away from the wall 20 will cause the valve 27 to open to a lesser extent. It will also be obvious that the other lever 15a will correspondingly be opened to a greater or lesser extent when engaged by the respective cam 13 depending on the movement of the disc 6a toward or away from the wall 20. Inasmuch as the actuating cams 13 for the levers 15, 1511 are the same and carried by the same disc 6a, it will be clear that the adjustment of the lovers will be proportional. In other words, if by a given position of the disc 6a and the earns 13 carried thereby the levers 15, 15a will be actuated so as to cause the valves 27, 27a to admit three parts hot water to two parts cold water for a given laundry load, this ratio of hot water to cold water will be maintained when the disc 6a is moved inwardly toward the wall 20. The only difference will be that the total amount of water to be admitted to the tank and eventually into the basket will be greater.

Indexing mechanism Referring now to Figs. 10 and 11 showing the back side of the washing machine, the control shaft 40 has connected thereto a toothed disc 53 so as to rotate the shaft 40 in response to the rotation of the disc 53. Connected to the disc 53 is a lever 54 which carries a weight 55 continuously tending to swing the lever 54 downwardly into abutment with a stop 56. The lever 54 has pivotally connected thereto by bolt 57' a lever 58 the upper end of which carries an indexing pin 59 adapted to engage the tooth space between any two adjacent teeth of the disc 53. Connected to that side of the lever 54 which faces 1 the rear wall of the tank is a stud 60 which has connected thereto for instance by screws 61, 62 a spring 63 which continuously urges the lever 58 to turn in clockwise direction with regard to Fig. 10 to thereby press the indexing pin 59 into that tooth space of disc 53 which is adjacent to the indexing pin 59.

Rigidly connected to the protective tube 41 for instance by welding is an arm 64 the upper end of which carries a bolt 65. Mounted on this bolt is a spacer 66, and between said spacer 66 and a washer 67 and nut 68 at the end of bolt is pivotally suspended a lever 69 carrying a weight 79 at its free end. The lever 69 also carries an indexing pin 71 which by means of the weight is continuously urged into engagement with that tooth space of disc 53 which is adjacent to the indexing pin 71.

The lever 54 is adapted to be lifted periodically by a roller 72 which is carried by a lifter pin 73 connected in any convenient manner to the sprocket wheel 74. The sprocket wheel 74 is drivingly connected through a chain 75 with a sprocket 76 which in its turn is keyed to a transmission shaft 77 of a transmission housed in the transmission box '78. This shaft 77 is substantially concentric with the axis of rotation of the rotatable basket 2. A shaft 79 protruding from the transmission box 78 and pertaining to the transmission carries a pulley 80 which in its turn through a belt 81 is drivingly connected with a pulley 82 keyed to a shaft 83 of an electric reversible motor 84. The drive just described also comprises a tensioning sprocket 86 which may be adjustable in any standard manner.

Reversing switch mechanism As is customary with commercial laundry machines, the basket of the washing machine is alternately rotated in clockwise direction and then again in counter-clockwise direction. To this end, a reversible electric motor is controlled so as alternately to rotate in one direction and then in the opposite direction. While with laundry machines heretofore known the switching over of the motor from driving in one direction to driving in the other direction and vice versa is effected by a rather complicated electric system, the control of the switching over of the driving motor from driving in one direction to driving in the other direction and vice versa is according to the present invention effected in a simple mechanical manner by a combination of a dash pot with an arm operated by the same control member which controls the indexing operation.

More specifically with regard to Fig. 10, the pin 73 on the upper sprocket 74 is adapted to engage an arm 87 which is preferably designed as a leaf spring. The arm 87 is connected in any convenient manner, for instance by rivets 88 (Figs. 19 and 20) to the upper lever 89 of a toggle mechanism generally designated 90. The lever 89 is pivotally supported by means of pivots 91, 92 which are carried by arms 93, 94 connected to the casing 95 housing the switch 96. The lower end of the lever 89 carries pivots 97, 98 to which is pivotally connected the upper end of the lower lever 99 of the toggle mechanism 90. Both levers 89 and 99 are respectively provided with an aperture 100, 101 into which are hooked the ends of a pre-loaded tension spring 102 acting as off-center spring so that the levers 89, 99 will always be tilted by the spring 102 either into the position shown in Fig. 20 in which the lever 39 abuts the stop 103 or into a position representing the image thereto in which the lever 89 abuts the stop 104. The levers 89 and 99 are provided with corresponding cut-outs 105 and 106 respectively so as not to impede the movements of the spring 102. The lower end of the lower lever 99 extends through a slot 107 of a metal strip 107a which latter is connected in any convenient manner to an insulating plate 108 of a dash pot mechanism generally designated 109. The slot 107 is of such extension that the lower lever 99 can unimpededly move from its desired leftward tilted position to its desired rightward titted position and vice versa but while so moving will cause the metal strip 107a to follow along in the respective direction. The tilting angle of the upper lever as is limited by the two stops ms, 194.

The insulating plate 1% is connected in any convenient manner to the dash pot mechanism N9 which comprises a cylinder 'lll'l confining two compartments 112 and 113 which communicate with each other through a restricted passage lid. The cylinder 111 is composed of a central portion 115 and end portions 116, ill.

These end portions are provided with bearing surfaces .t

118, 119 by means of which the cylinder is reciprocably mounted on a shaft 126% having rigidly connected thereto a piston 321. The shaft no is stationarily and adjustably supported by the tips of screws 122, 123 supported by the casing 95, which casing is filled with oil. The outer diameter of the piston 121 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the restricted passage 11.4 so that when the restricted passage 111.4- moves over the piston 12?. a rather small annular passage will be left through which fluid slowly pass in a restricted manner from one side of the piston of the other side thereof. On the other hand, the inner diameter of the compartmer and H3 is considerably greater than the outer .er of the piston 121 so that when either of the comrtrnents H2, 113 surrounds the piston 12 1, the fluid for instance oil can freely and unrestrictedly pass from one side of the piston 121 to the other side thereof. Since is practically not possible to machine the cylinder so that both compartments 112 and 113 are completel ntical, it would normally be unavoidable that the cylinder ill moves in one direction at a speed which is s tly different from the speed at which the cylin moves in the other direction. In order to overcome this drawback and in order to allow adjustment of the travelling speed of cylinder ill, the latter is provided with two small bleeder openings 124, 12$ leading from the inside of the compartments 112, 113 into the interior of the oil containing casing and controlled by adjustable screws 126, 127 respectively. Springs 128, 129 hold screws 126, 127 in their respective adjusted positions.

Operation. of hot and 00341 water control and indexing mechanism It may be assumed that for a certain washing formula, the cams 13 have been properly adjusted and the position of the disc on has been adjusted by corresponding movement of the miser 4-3. The motor 84- is then started as a result of which the pulley 82 through the intervention of the belt 31, the pulley 8d, the transmission in the transmission box 1 8, and the sprocket 76 drives the sprocket '74. At the same time, the motor 84 through belt 81 and transmission shaft "77 rotates the basket 2. It may furthe 'ore be assumed that the lifter pin 3 occupics the position shown in Fig. 10 and that the sprocket 74- is now rotating in the direction R. it will be appreciated that when the lifter pin '73 during rotation in the direction of arrow R engages the arm or leaf spring 37, it will carry along the arm 37 so as to tilt the latter about the pivots 9i and '92. During this initial tilting movement, the lower end of the lever 9%, which extends through the slot 181?, will. not move the metal strip 1674/ which is connected to the cylinder ill and thus will not take said cylinder along. Instead, the lower end of the lever 9-9 is freely moving within the slot 367 until the spring 362 has just passed its central position. At this instant, the offcenter spring 99 becomes effective to snap the toggle levers 89, 99 from their respective positions towards the adjacent and position. Consequently the lower end of lever 99 takes along the plate lliia and thus cylinder 116. During the initial phase of this last tioned movement, practically no resistance is encountered in the dashpot mechanism 1% because the oil filling the compartments 112, ll?) around the piston 121 and shaft 120 can during the displacement of the, cylinder lllll easily pass between the piston 121 and the inner wall of the respective compartment from one side of said piston to the other side thereof. Thus, the cylnider 111 performs a rapid initial movement which results in a quick break of the contacts 133, 138; 13! 139; 131, 14% 136, l t-1; T134, 142; and 135, 143. This quick break is, of course, highly desirable to prevent arcing and to save the contacts. Shortly after the break of said contacts, the restricted passage 114 passes over the piston 121 so that only a restricted passage of oil is established between both sides of the piston 121 with the result that the movement of hte cylinder in is slowed down. This means that the toggle levers 89, 99 only relatively slowly continue moving toward their new end position. This difference in speed, however, does not affect the movement of the sprocket 74 and the lifter pin '73 carried thereby, because the arm or leaf spring 87 is flexible so that it will slightly flex during the short period during which the restricted passage 114 surrounds the piston 121. As soon as the restricted passage 114 has moved beyond the piston 121, the oil in the dash pot cylinder ill can again freely and unimpededly flow from one side of the piston toward the other side. When this point has been reached, the off-center spring 132 still being away from its adjacent end position, now in the custernary manner of toggle mechanisms quickly tilts the toggle levers 89*, 99 into their adjacent end position. As a result thereof, the contacts 136 to 3 .37 carried by the insulating plate llt'ld of the dash pot cylinder mechanism quickly and instantly engage the respective contacts 139, Ml}, 1 32, M3, 145 and 156. The circuit thus established is shown in Fig. 22. It will be seen from this circuit that current from the mani line L passes through con-- tact 143 to contact 137 and from there on one hand through contacts 136 and 142 to the motor terminal 14 and on the other hand through contacts 134%, M5, and 146 to the motor terminal 147. From the terminals 144 and 147 the current passes through the motor on one hand to the motor terminal 148 and on the other hand to the motor terminal 149. From motor terminal 14-8 the current flows through contacts 141, 159, Bi, 132', 139 and connecting point 151 to the main line L From the motor terminal 149 the current flows through contacts 140, 133, 132, 13? and connecting point 151 to the main line L Thus, the reversing circuit for the motor S4 is established with the result that the motor and therefore the sprocket '74 will now turn in the direction of the arrow S. The location of the lifter pin 73 is such that by the time the reversing circuit just described has been closed, the lifter pin 73 is still on the righthand side of the arm 87' with regard to Fig. 10. In other words the leaf sprinf 37 may flex during the last phase of the switch reversing operation but the length of the arm or leaf spring 87 is such that the lifter pin 73 wil not fiip over the leaf spring E7.

inasmuch as the sprocket 7d now moves in the direction of the arrow S, the lifter pin '73 will now move away from the right-hand side of the leaf spring 87 (with regard to Fig. 10) and will move upwardly toward the lever 54-. When the lifter pin '73 through its roller 72 engages the lower edge of the lever 54 while the sprocket 7d continues its rotation, the pin '73 through its roller 72 will lift the lever 54. Due to the engagement of the pin 59 with one tooth space of the disc $3, the disc 53 is rotated in cen formity with the lifting motion of the lever 54. During this rotative movement of the disc 53, the indexing pin 71 slips out of its respective tooth space and slides along and above the adjacent next following tooth in the direction of rotation of the disc 53 which always rotates in the direction of the arrow T. By the time the lifter pin 73 has reached its uppermost position with regard to the lever 54, the indexing pin 71 has engaged the next following tooth space and thereby prevents the disc 53 from further rotation in either direction while the lifter pin 73 begins its downward movement. As soon as the lever 54 clue to the downward movement of the lifter pin 73 also begins its downward tilting motion in view of the Weight 55, the indexing pin 59 now being unable to move the disc 53 since the latter is held stationarily by the pin 71, begins to slide over the next lower tooth of disc 53 in a direction opposite to the direction of the arrow T. By the time the lifter pin 73 has fully disengaged the lever 54, the latter rests on the stop 56, and the indexing pin 59 registers with the next lower tooth space and is firmly held therein by the spring 63. The lifter pin 73 now continues its rotation in the direction of the arrow S and when it approaches its lowermost position it engages the left-hand side of the arm 87 which now occupies a position which is the image of the position shown in Fig. 10. In a manner similar to that described above prior to the reversing of the switch-dash pot mechanism, the lifter pin 73 engages the arm 87 and moves the same slightly beyond off-center position from where the toggle spring 1% moves the toggle levers 89, 99 into the position shown in Figs. and 20. The electric circuit now established is illustrated in Fig. 21. As will be seen from Fig. 21, current flows from the main line L through contacts 143, 135, 134, 142 to the motor terminal 144. Current furthermore flows from the main line L through contacts 143, 135, 136, 141 to motor terminal 148. From the terminals 144 anud 148 of the motor 84 current flows to the motor terminals 147 and 149. From the terminal 147 current flows through contacts 138, 133, 130, 139 and connecting point 151 to the line L From the terminal 149 current flows through contacts 140, 131, 130, 139 and connecting point 151 to line L Thus, the motor circuit is again reversed and the lifter pin 73 now moves in the direction of the arrow R away from the left-hand side of the arm 87 upwardly toward the lever 54. When the lifter pin 73 engages the lever 54 it lifts the latter so that the pin 59 again turns the disc 53 in the direction of the arrow T although in contrast to the previous phase the pin 73 now moves in the direction of the arrow R. Again due to the turning movement of the disc 53 by pin 59, the indexing pin 71 slips out of its respective tooth space and drops into the next lower tooth space. Thereafter, the lifter pin 73 begins its downward movement so that the pin 59 due to the downward movement of the lever 54 slips out of its respective tooth space into the next lower tooth space. The lifter pin 73 continues its downward movement and eventually again engages the upper end of the arm 87 from the right-hand side thereof with regard to Fig. 10 and the same phase is initiated as has been described above. It will thus be appreciated that the disc 53 is indexed by one tooth each time the lifter pin passes underneath the lever 54 and that the indexing of the disc 53 occurs always in the same direction irrespective of whether the lifter pin 73 moves in the direction of the arrow S or in the direction of the arrow R. Inasmuch as the indexing disc 53 through shaft 40 is connected with the disc 6a, the disc 6a is thus rotated in steps in conformity with the indexing of the disc 53. While this operation continues, the various cams 13 (Figs. l3, l4) eventually engage the respective rollers 14, 16a and thereby tilt the levers 15'a toward the front wall 29 of the tank 17. As a result thereof, the bolts respectively engage the valve stems of the valves 27, 27a for admission of cold and hot water. The quantity of water admitted into the tank depends on the extent to which the levers 15, 15a and thus the valve stems of the valves pertaining thereto are pressed inwardly. When the respetcively desired water level in the Water tank has been obtained, the floats 23, 23a lift the bolts 25 011 the respective valve stems and thereby allow the respective valves to close.

if it is desired to wash larger or smaller loads so that a higher or lower water level is desired in the tank, it is merely necessary to adjust the miser in one or the other direction so as to move the disc 6a with the earns 13 towar or away from the front wall 21). It will be appreciated that by this adjustment both valve stems of the valves 27, 27a respectively will be adjusted proportionately which means that the same ratio of cold and hot water which was previously adjusted for a respective smaller or larger laundry load will still be maintained.

if instead of a one phase motor, a three phase motor is employed, the same switch of Figs. 19 to 22 can be used and it is merely necessary to add a third line L and connect the same to the terminal 152 as shown in the circuits of Figs. 21 and 22 by dashed lines, while eliminating the terminals 149 and 144. As will be clear from the above, regardless of the direction the sprocket 74 will rotate, the indexing movement of the toothed disc 53 and thus of the control disc 6a will remain the same.

Device for automatically dumping washing ingredients The washing machine according to the present invention is furthermore provided with a dumping device which automatically will dump the various washing ingredients such as soap, bleach, dye, sours and the like at a desired appropriate time. To this end, there is arranged between the upper housing portion 1b of the machine and the front side 26 of the water tank 17 (see Figs. 4 and 5) a sub stantially horizontal bar 153 which has rigidly connected thereto a number of rods 154, 155, 156, 157 corresponding in number to the number of cups or containers 158, 159, 166, 161 which cups may be filled with ingredients eventually to be added to the wash water. The said rods 154, 155, 156, 157 are guided in sleeves 162, 163, 165 respectively which sleeves are supported by and connected to the front side of the water tank in any convenient manner for instance by welding. The upper end of the rods 154 to 157 carries adjustable means for instance threaded bolts 166, 167, 168, 169 which threadedly and adjustably engage a correspondingly threaded bore at the upper end of the respective rod. The upper end of the bolts 166 to 169 normally abuts a tongue 1719 (Fig. 16) connected to the lower end of the respective dumping cups 158 to 161. The upper end of the tongue 170 is somewhat semi-circular shaped as indicated at 171 so as to fit over rods 172, 173 which are carried by arms 174 of the upper housing portion 16 of the machine. The dumping cups are suspended on the rods 172, 173 by means of said semi-circular shaped portions 171, and due to the Weight distribution of the cup portions will tilt so that the lower end of the tongue 170 abuts the respective belt 166 to 169. It will be appreciated that, when the bar 153 is pressed downwardly, the rods 154 to 157 with the bolts 166 to 169 will also move downwardly. Inasmuch as the bolts 166 to 169 can be adjusted to a different level, it will be clear that during a downward move ment of the bar 153, the tongues 170 of the various cups 158 to 161 can be released at a different time depending on the height adjustment of the bolts 166 to 169, which means that the contents of the various cups will be dumped at a predetermined sequence. The actuation of the bar 153 is efiected by means of a roller 175 supported by a pin 176 which is carried by an upwardly extending tongue 177 rigidly connected to the bar 153 in any convenient manner, for instance by welding. The roller 175 in its turn is actuated by a cam 178 which latter is connected to the sleeve 39 of the indexing or control disc 6a (see Fig. 3) in any convenient manner, for instance by one or more set screws 179. It will be noticed that the cam 173 has a somewhat spiral-shaped effective cam surface with a relatively small pitch so that the roller 175 and thus the bar 153 are gradually moved downwardly. The bar 153 has connected thereto one end of two springs 131 131 the other or upper ends of which are respectively connected to a stationary pin or the like 182, 183 carried by the stationary sleeves 163 and 164 respectively. Thus, when the roller 175 passes over the top of the cam 178, the springs 180, 181 automatically and instantly return the bar 153 to its lifted or upper position. The cups can then be filled and suspended again at any desired time.

In order to force the contents of the cups, especially when consisting of powder, to leave the cups in a thin layer, transverse cover plates 184 are provided near the discharge ends of the cups so as to leave only a relatively narrow slot between the respective cover plate and the adjacent discharge end of the cup. For facilitating the handling of the cups, the latter are provided with handles 252 extending through openings 253 in the front cover portion 1b (Fig. 1).

Inasmuch as the dumping of soap powder directly into the Water tank will usually not be satisfactory inasmuch as said soap powder lumps together in the water, in other words will not be properly distributed in the water, according to the present invention, there is provided a baffle box 33 which extends at least in front of that dumping cit which is to be filled with soap powder so that, when said last mentioned cup tilts, its contents are discharged into said baffle box. The baffle box 38 is illustrated on a larger scale in Fig. 8 and its location in the tank 17 can best be seen from Figs. 4 and 7. The baflie box substantially consists of a casing 185 with partitions 1136 extending from one longitudinal side of the casing 185 in a transverse direction but so that the front edges of these partitions are spaced from the opposite wall of the casing. Similarly, partitions 187 from the other longitudinal side of the casing 185 extend transverse to the casing but not quite to the opposite wall while the partitions 187 are offset to the partitions 186 so that the water, when passing by said partitions, will pass through a serpentine shaped. path. At the entrance end of the is a small chamber 188 which is closed on all sides with the exception of the side 188a which is the discharge side of said chamber. Moreover, the chamber 188 communicates through pipe 37 with the hot water supply pipe. If desired, the top wall of the chamber 188 may be provided with a removable stopper 189 so as to be able to enter the chamber 188 with a tool if this should be necessary for any reasons.

The discharge end portion of the baflie box 38 has bafi'le walls 200 to 204 extending from said end portion at a slant toward the central axis of the box. The bottom of the bafile box adjacent to said last discharge end portion has one or more openings 205 for releasing the water. Underneath said end portion of box 38 there is provided an inclined slide 206 (Fig. 7) which slide is connected to the side wall 207 of the mixing tank 17. This slide is preferably bent so as to impart upon the water flowing thereover a twist or whirl which will considerably aid in producing the desired mixing in the mixing tank 17.

Mechanism governing the discharge water from the tank into the washing machine proper The water tank or mixing tank 17 has arranged in the bottom thereof a water outlet 208 (Fig. 6) which corn municates with the stationary outer drum 209 of the washing machine. The said passage or outlet 208 is normally closed by a kind of flush type valve 210 which latter is connected to the lower end of a rod 211. To limit the upward movement of the valve 210, there is provided inverted U-shaped stop member 210a the legs of which are connected to the bottom of the tank 17. The upper end of the rod 211 carries an adjustable nut 212 (see Fig. 18) which is adjustable on the upper threaded portion of the rod 211 and may be secured in its respective p "iticn by a jam nut 213. The nut 212 carries a washer which is engaged by the lower end of a spring 215 the upper end of which engages a cut-out portion 216a at one end of a lever 216. The upper surface of lever is provided with a V-shaped flat notch 216b which is en aged by a knife edge portion 217a of a knob 2171) which may be designed as a nut and is threadedly engaged by the upper end of the rod 211. The other end of the lever 216 is connected to a transverse shaft 217 in any convenient manner so as to tilt when the shaft 217 is turned. The shaft 217 is journalled in bearings 21% and 219 (see Figs. 4 and 6) respectively supported by brackets 220 and 221 connected to the front side and rear side respectively of the tank 17. The shaft 217 extends forwardly and has rigidly connected to its front end one end of an arm 222 the other end of which has crank-like connected thereto a pin 223 carrying a roller 224i (Figs. 4 and 5). The roller 224 is adapted to be engaged by cams 225. It will be appreciated that each time a earn 225 lifts the roller 224, the latter will cause the 217 to turn. As a result thereof, the lever 216 rigidly connected to the shaft 217 will be tilted so that the free end thereof will lift the rod 211 and the dumping valve 210 connected thereto with the result that the water from the tank 17 will be released through the water outlet 211% into the stationary drum 209 of the washing machine. When the respective cam 225 again disengages the roller 224, the weight of the arm 222 and crank connected thereto automatically returns the roller 224 to its previous position thus causing the valve 210 to return to its previous position in which valve 210 closes the discharge opening or water outlet 208 in the bottom of the tank.

Discharge of water from the washing machine into the sewer With reference to Fig. 6, it will be noted that adjacent the transverse shaft 217 and journalled in bearings 226, 227 is a transverse shaft 228 the front end of which has likewise rigidly connected thereto an arm 229 which also carries in crank-like fashion a pin 230 (Fig. 5) with a roller 231. The bearings 226, 22.7 are likewise supported by the brackets 22%, 221. The rear end of the transverse shaft 228 has rigidly connected thereto a lever 232 (Figs. 6 and 9) which is similar to the lever 216 shown in Fig. 18 and also has a cut-out portion 232a similar to the cut-out portion 216a of the lever 216. Also in this instance, a valve stem 233 extends to the lever 232 while the lower end passes through a tube 234 and has connected thereto a dump valve (not shown in the drawing). This dump valve governs an outlet in a connecting piece 235 which latter has one end connected through pipe 236 to the bottom of the stationary drum of the washing machine, while the other end of connecting piece 235 communicates with a pipe 237 leading to a sewer.

The roller 231 (Figs. 2, 5) is also adapted to be engaged by a cam 225 connected to the outer row of the disc 6 for actuation in the same way as described in connection with the actuation of the roller 224. It will be appreciated that each time the roller 231 is lifted and the shaft 228 is thus rotated, the valve stem 233 is lifted so that the water from the outer drum of the washing machine is discharged into a sewer.

Hand indexing In case it is desired for any purposes to turn the control disc 6a into a different indexing position either for adjustment of the formula or for other reasons, this can be done by hand. To this end, there is provided a tube 233 (see Figs. 4 and 9) which extends across the top of the tank 17 and is connected thereto in any convenient manner and in which is journalled a control rod 239. The front end of this control rod has connected thereto a handle 24% (see Figs. 1, 2 and 4), while the rear end of said control rod has rigidly connected thereto an arm 241 (see Figs. 9 and 10). Through one end of the arm 241 extends a crank rod 242 which passes between the two legs 243, 244 of the upper indexing arm 69. The lower end of the crank rod 242 carries a washer 245 secured thereto in any convenient manner, for instance by a cotter pin 246 which washer is adapted, when the rod 239 is tilted in clockwise direction (when facing the front side of the washing machine) to engage and lift up the adjacent end of the upper indexing arm 69 so that the latter tilts about its pivot (Fig. 10) upwardly and 13 consequently lifts the indexing pin 71 out of the toothed disc 53 adjacent thereto.

Also connected to the arm 241 but to the other end thereof is a rod 247 the lower end of which passes through the lower indexing arm 54 (Figs. 9 and which normally rests on the stop 56. The lower end of the rod 247 carries a washer or the like 248 prevented from sliding off the rod 247 in any convenient manner, for instance by a cotter pin 249. When the rod 239 is tilted in counter-clockwise direction (when facing the front side of the machine) the washer 248 engages a tongue 54a of the lower indexing arm 54 so as to lift the lower indexing arm 54 and to tilt the same about its pivot axis. As a result thereof, the indexing pin 59 carried by the lever 58 linked to the indexing arm 54 by the bolt 57 will turn or index the disc 53 by one tooth in the direction of the arrow T. It will be appreciated that when pin 59 thus rotates disc 53 by one tooth, pin 71 is forced out of its respective tooth space and then drops into the next following tooth space. When thereupon returning arm 241 to its normal position, pin 59 drops back into the next tooth space of disc 53 and arm 54 assumes its previous or normal position. By repeating the same operation of arm 241 in quick succession, a relatively fast indexing or stepwise rotation of disc 53 is manually effected. If the handle 240 is moved over to its extreme left-hand position with regard to Fig. 1 or 2 and kept in this position (rod 239 tilted in clockwise direction when facing the front of the machine), pin 71 is completely lifted out of engagement with the disc 53 so that this control disc 53 can be gripped by hand and rotated without any resistance.

It is, of course, understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular construction shown in the drawings but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

It may be added that, if desired, the last one of the cams 225 (when considering the sequence of said cams in counter clockwise direction with regard to Fig. 2) may be slightly larger than the preceding cams so as to be able to engage and operate the switch 250 at the end of a complete cycle so that this switch automatically closes the circuit for the light 251 which represents a signal to the operator that the washing machine has completed its cycle.

What I claim is:

1. In combination: in a washing machine having a stationary outer drum, and an inner drum rotatable therein, a tank arranged outside said drum and provided with pasage means for conveying water from said tank to said outer drum, hot and cold water conduit means associated with said tank for respectively conveying hot and cold water into said tank, hot and cold water control valve means respectively arranged within said hot and cold water conduit means, said control valve means normally being closed for preventing discharge of hot and cold Water into said tank, cam means, movable supporting means supporting said cam means and operable respectively to bring said cam means into engagement with said valve means for opening the latter, motor means mechanically drivingly connected with said supporting means for actuating the same, and manually operable adjusting means arranged for engagement with said supporting means and operable selectively to vary the distance between said supporting means and said valve means to thereby cause said cam means when actuating said valve means to vary the opening of the latter.

2. In combination in a washing machine having a stationary outer drum, and an inner drum rotatable therein: hot and cold water conduit means associated with said machine for conveying hot and cold water thereto, valve means respectively arranged in said conduit means for controlling the flow of hot and cold water therethrough, a rotatable disc, shaft means rotatably connected to said disc but allowing movement of said disc on said shaft means in the longitudinal direction of the latter, motor means, first mechanical means drivingly connected with said motor means and said inner drum for rotating the latter, second mechanical means drivingly connecting said motor means with said shaft means for rotating the latter, cam means supported by said disc and movable into engagement with said valve means for actuating the same, and means mounted on said shaft means and operable for selectively moving said disc toward or away from said valve means to thereby vary the maximum opening of said valve means.

3. In combination in a washing machine having an outer drum and an inner drum rotatable in said outer drum: hot and cold water conduit means respectively associated with said washing machine for conveying hot and cold water to the machine, control valve means respectively arranged within said conduit means for controlling the flow of water therethrough, motor means drivingly connected to said inner drum, shaft means, transmission means including a pawl and ratchet mechanism drivingly connecting said motor means with said shaft means, said outer drum being provided with a discharge opening for discharging water from the inner drum into a drain, a control member normally closing said discharge opening, a plurality of dumping cups arranged alongside the washing machine and operable to dump the contents of said cups into the water in said machine, first control means rotatably connected to said shaft means and adjustable in axial direction thereof, first cam means carried by said first control means and movable by the latter into position for actuating said valve means, cam means supported by said first control means and movable by the latter into position for bringing about movement of said control means from its closing position into its opening position to discharge water from said inner drum, and second control means connected to said shaft means so as to rotate therewith into and through a position for bringing about dumping of said cups.

4. A washing machine according to claim 3, in which said motor means is a reversible motor, and in which a switch-over member is carried by said transmission means and is movable into positions for switching over said motor means from movement in one direction to movement in the opposite direction.

5. In combination in a washing machine having an outer drum and an inner drum rotatable in said outer drum: a reversible motor drivingly connected to said inner drum, hot and cold water conduit means for respectively conveying hot and cold water to said machine, valve means arranged in said conduit means for controlling the flow of Water through said conduit means into the machine, rotatable cam means operable to actuate said valve means, transmission means drivingly connecting said motor means with said cam means, switch means electrically connected with said motor means and operable to reverse the direction of rotation of said motor means, said switch means including a toggle lever mechanism and a movable element operable by said toggle lever mechanism, and actuating means carried by said transmission means and -movable into position for actuating said toggle lever mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,265,843 Walker May 14, 1918 2,166,294 Hetzer July 18, 1939 2,181,983 Voris Dec. 5, 1939 2,222,329 Watts Nov. 19, 1940 2,325,837 Dyer Aug. 3, 1943 2,328,256 Breckenridge Aug. 31, 1943 2,344,253 Kirby Mar. 14, 1944 2,410,873 Gayring N0v.12, 1946 2,431,040 Harvey Nov. 18, 1947 2,643,537 Woodson June 30, 1950 

